Hepatitis E in England and Wales

In 2005, 329 cases of hepatitis E virus infection were confirmed in England and Wales; 33 were confirmed indigenous infections, and a further 67 were estimated to be indigenous infections. Hepatitis E should be considered in the investigation of patients with hepatitis even if they have no history of travel

Profiling the transcriptome of Gracilaria changii (Rhodophyta) in response to light deprivation

Light regulates photosynthesis, growth and reproduction, yield and properties of phycocolloids, and starch contents in seaweeds. Despite its importance as an environmental cue that regulates many developmental, physiological, and biochemical processes, the network of genes involved during light deprivation are obscure. In this study, we profiled the transcriptome of Gracilaria changii at two different irradiance levels using a cDNA microarray containing more than 3,000 cDNA probes. Microarray analysis revealed that 93 and 105 genes were up- and down-regulated more than 3-fold under light deprivation, respectively. However, only 50% of the transcripts have significant matches to the nonredundant peptide sequences in the database. The transcripts that accumulated under light deprivation include vanadium chloroperoxidase, thioredoxin, ferredoxin component, and reduced nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide dehydrogenase. Among the genes that were down-regulated under light deprivation were genes encoding light harvesting protein, light harvesting complex I, phycobilisome 7.8 kDa linker polypeptide, low molecular weight early light-inducible protein, and vanadium bromoperoxidase. Our findings also provided important clues to the functions of many unknown sequences that could not be annotated using sequence comparison

Metastectomy for non-colorectal, non-neuroendocrine liver secondaries

Background: The role of metastectomy for colorectal and neuroendocrine liver secondaries is well established. Significant palliation and survival have been reported after aggressive surgical resection. However, the role of liver resection for secondaries from other primary tumours is less well defined. In this study, we aim to describe our experience, including indications and selection criteria, operative strategy and clinical outcome of liver resection, for non-colorectal, non-neuroendocrine liver metastases. Methods: A review of prospectively collected operative database was conducted and patients who underwent liver resection of secondaries from non-colorectal, non-neuroendocrine primary tumours were studied. Eighteen patients were included in the study. There were 4 men and 14 women with a median age of 48 years (range, 37–78 years). Liver resection was carried out either for cure or for palliation of debilitating symptoms. Selection criteria included: (i) absence of extrahepatic disease and (ii) functional status of the liver and volume of remnant liver after hepatectomy. The median follow up was 24 months (range, 7–81 months) for 17 patients, excluding the one who defaulted after surgery. Cancer-specific survival and recurrence-free interval was calculated from the date of hepatectomy. Results: Liver resection was considered curative in 13 patients. There was no 30-day mortality in this cohort of patients. The median recurrence-free survival time was 13 months (95 confidence interval (CI), 8–18 months). The median follow-up time for the 12 patients was 23.5 months (range, 7–35 months). Only five patients died due to cancer-specific causes and one died from acute myocardial infarction. The median cancer-specific survival time was 30 months (95 CI, 25–35 months). The 2-year survival rate was 77.1 (95 CI, 48.9–100). Conclusion: The results are encouraging and suggest that with appropriate selection criteria, there is a role for metastectomy of non-colorectal, non-neuroendocrine liver secondaries

Convalescent COVID-19 patients are susceptible to endothelial dysfunction due to persistent immune activation

10.7554/eLife.64909ELIFE1